Are we in a tech bubble? Is Snowden a hero? And what’s the hottest status symbol? In The Atlantic’s first Silicon Valley Insiders Poll, a panel of 50 executives, innovators, and thinkers answer these questions and more.

Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate and former secretary of energy, and Yi Cui, a celebrated battery researcher who works with Chu at Stanford, describe how an overhaul of the unglamorous battery will jump-start a shift to renewable energy.